
Shanidze Lab
Welcome to the Eye-Head Movement Lab! Our laboratory is interested in how changes in visual and/or vestibular function affect eye/head coordination, balance, and mobility, particularly in aging.
We are currently pursuing two main lines of research:
1. The effects of central visual field loss on eye and head movements and stability, especially in everyday tasks such as locomotion.
2. The effects of lifetime noise exposure on vestibular function and how potential vestibular deficits affect balance and mobility across the lifespan.
For more information about our research projects, please see the "Projects" tab below.
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Active
Characteristics of Smooth Pursuit in Individuals with Central Field Loss
This project investigates the properties of smooth pursuit eye movements in individuals with macular degeneration. Commonly believed to be a fovea-linked eye movement, smooth pursuit has not been previously investigated in individuals with central field loss, despite its importance for tracking moving objects, such as vehicles or pedestrians on a busy street.
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Active
Coordination of Eye and Head Movements in Central Field Loss
This project investigates the interaction between central field loss (CFL) and vestibular function.
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Active
Effects of Noise Exposure Across the Lifespan on Balance and Stability in Older Adults
Falls in older adults are common, have high societal and monetary costs, often lead to injury and can even be fatal. It is known that noise can damage the vestibular periphery resulting in postural instability and compromised balance. This project investigates how natural aging is accelerated by lifetime noise exposure, and how that can lead to impaired vestibular function, contributing to propensity to fall.
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Active
Fovea Use During Smooth Pursuit
There is continuing debate as to whether smooth pursuit relies on the foveation of a moving target, especially when the target is compact.
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Active
Robotic Oculomotor Simulator
Current eye tracking and calibration algorithms do not accommodate eccentric viewing and the capacity for accurate eye tracking is difficult to assess in individuals with central visual field loss, and few studies of naturalistic oculomotor behavior exist. To address this problem, we are developing a binocular robotic model of the human eyes that can simulate fixation and eye movements with an eccentric preferred retinal locus in one or both eyes and allow for precise assessment of eye tracking performance of head mounted computer vision-based eye tracking systems.
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Active
Vestibular Function in AMD: Verticality Perception
To accurately perceive one’s own state and that of the surrounding environment, visual, vestibular and somatosensory inputs must be appropriately weighted and dynamically reweighted depending on the environment and task difficulty, as well as signal reliability (and availability). Aging is associated with an increase on visual dependence (a greater weighting of visual information). In this project we investigate how loss of visual information due to AMD affects this reweighting process and if an increase in visual dependence may be maladaptive in AMD.
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Completed
Motion Perception in Central Field Loss
The project investigates motion perception in individuals with vision loss due to central retinal lesion, but who retain healthy peripheral retina. Healthy peripheral retina is exquisitely sensitive to fast speeds, however, there is limited and conflicting information about motion processing in residual peripheral retina in patients with central field loss, often due to macular degeneration. We use psychophysical and eye tracking approaches to systematically probe speed and direction sensitivity in this population.
- Al Lotze - Research Assistant
- Anca Velisar - Research Associate
- Catherine Agathos - Post-Doctoral Fellow
- Elon Ullman - Research Associate
- Kassia Love - Research Intern
- Kyra Deams - Research Intern
- Rachel Lee - Research Intern
- Ryan Bixler - Research Intern
- Sai Muktevi - Lab Assistant
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SKERI Intern Wins 2nd Place Undergraduate Poster Award at SEMSS
SKERI undergraduate intern Kyra Deams took second place for her poster "Gait-Specific Attentional Profile, Anxiety, and Space Perception in Younger Adults" at the Southeastern Medical Scientist Symposium (SEMSS), hosted virtually by the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. -
Dr. Shanidze receives new grant from National Institute on Aging
This collaborative proposal will study the effects of noise exposure on balance and age-related fall risk. -
Kassia Love Wins Best Paper Award at ETRA 2021's ActivEye Workshop
Kassia Love won the best paper award at ETRA's ActivEye Workshop for the paper "Eye, Robot: Calibration Challenges and Potential Solutions for Wearable Eye Tracking in Individuals with Eccentric Fixation". -
SKERI Intern awarded grant to build an eye movement simulator
Kassia Love (a SKERI virtual intern from Harvard University) received a Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research, in collaboration with SKERI researchers, Natela Shanidze and Anca Velisar, to build an eye movement simulation robot.